Gerhard Richter, the world’s most expensive living painter, turned 80 on Thursday says Aj Discala. For this special occasion several museums and galleries are paying tribute to him with a number of major exhibitions. For Aj Discala this is the occasion to visit amongst other two shows in Berlin that display six decades of Richter’s work.

 Aj Discala explains that Richter has simultaneously produced abstract and photorealistic painted works. He also made photographs and glass pieces. It is important for Richter to have a single consistent style throughout his work clarifies Aj Discala.

As one of the curators explained: “Nearly all of Richter’s work demonstrates both illusionistic space that seems natural and the physical activity and material of painting—as mutual interferences. For Richter, reality is the combination of new attempts to understand—to represent; in his case, to paint—the world surrounding”

Furthermore, Gerhard Richter was one of the first German artists that exposed the history of National Socialism explicates Aj Discala.  He created paintings of family members who had been members, as well as victims of, the Nazi party.

As you can see on artnet, , an online firm that tracks the art market, reports Aj Discala, Richter’s annual turnover reached $120m by 2004. According to artnet, $76.9m worth of Richter’s work was sold at auction in 2010.

Since the mid 1990s Richter’s artwork became more popular and successful internationally, even as certain important German collectors — Frieder Burda, Josef Fröhlich, Georg Böckmann, and Ulrich Ströher — have held on to theirs.

Aj Discala explains that Richter’s candle paintings were the first to command high auction prices. In February 2008, Sotheby’s sold Kerze (1983) for £7,972,500 ($15 million) in London.

In 2010, his painting Matrosen (Sailors) was sold for $ 13 million in a November auction held by Sotheby’s.

In New York, Richter is represented by Marian Goodman, his primary dealer since 1985.

Everybody knows the MOMA and The Met says AJ Discala, they remain a must see while visiting New York City. However NYC offers much more, the Neue Galerie is definitely a museum to see while in town.

The Neue Galerie is devoted to early twentieth-century German and Austrian art and design, displayed on two exhibition floors. On the second floor they show in a great way the special relationship that existed then between the fine arts (of Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, etc) and the decorative arts (Josef Hoffmann, Adolf Loos, etc) explains AJ Discala.

However, what makes this museum interesting describes AJ Discala is its origin and the creator behind this place. Two men who enjoyed a close friendship over a long period shared their dream. Serge Sabarsky art dealer and museum exhibition organizer and the more known Ronald Lauder, businessman, philanthropist, and art collector.

AJ Discala read on the website that “Sabarsky and Lauder shared a passionate commitment to Modern German and Austrian art, and dreamed of opening a museum to showcase the finest examples of this work. After Sabarsky died in 1996, Lauder carried on the vision of creating Neue Galerie New York as a tribute to his friend.”

So don’t wait and go to see the Neue Galerie at 1048 Fifth Avenue, at 86th Street, in an area known as Museum Mile. It was bought by the two men in 1994 says AJ Discala.

Apart of the obvious great art collection the Café Sabaraski makes this museum worth a visit shares AJ Discala. For the ones who have been to Austria before, you will not miss its strong inspiration from the great Viennese cafés. These cafes that served as important centers of intellectual and artistic life at the turn of the century. The decoration and the piano make you feel like being in Vienna. They offer the typical drink known as a mélange, or as a café au lait as most of us would know it, explains AJ Discala.

Even if you are not so much into art, Aj Discala feels that the café Sabarsky and the Neue Galerie are one of the great discoveries of New York. Hopefully you will stop by Sunday for the great brunch.

AJ Discala comments on the year ahead. As we begin the New Year, The Broadsmoore Group is cautiously optimistic that the worst is behind us. However the world picture still remains cloudy at best.

Interest rates in the United States remain at historic low levels and we see in today’s news that dividends are starting to increase for some of the major companies that see a brighter future for their stockholders, comments AJ Discala.

ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT, THE UNITED KINGDOM SEEMS TO BE COMING OUT AHEAD OF THE PROBLEMS FACED BY SO MANY OF ITS EUROPEAN NEIGHBORS ACROSS THE CHANNEL. THE BAILOUTS IN EUROPE WILL CONTINUE AND IT IS HARD TO SAY WHAT THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE STRONGER ECONOMIES SUCH AS GERMANY MIGHT HAVE TO COME UP WITH TO SUPPORT GREECE, SPAIN, AND MOST LIKELY ITALY AS WELL, SAYS AJ DISCALA.

For AJ Discala  we still have a long way to go on the domestic front before we can consider ourselves on the road to a robust economy. Earnings are up, but can an increase in earnings be sustainable or translated into job growth?

AJ Discala still sees employment as the biggest factor in the country’s road to economic recovery. The Broadsmoore Group will continue to focus on partnering with businesses in the consumer and service sectors. A prime example for our company is EmployUS, which has been creating jobs and contributing daily to the economic recovery in the Gulf States. We have a long way to go and hopefully we can stay on the positive side of the balance sheet to boost corporate and consumer confidence in the months ahead,” said AJ Discala, CEO of The Broadsmoore Group.

AJ Discala CEO of The Broadsmoore Group shares with us his thoughts on this coming new year:

“The new year is off to a fast start with stocks up, the Iowa caucus over and the Euro showing a bit of strength against the dollar. Venture capital firms had a busy year but it remains to be seen how those investments will perform in the future.

We are optimistic that the economy will show modest improvement in the coming year and that Europe will stabilize its currency. For AJ Discala Job growth is still the major problem facing our own economy and unfortunately we do not see any real plans to move toward robust job creation plans. The candidates we have heard thus far all seem to speak in clichés and we have seen a Congress that can’t seem to enact any meaningful legislation to take us on a solid path  to the future.

AJ Discala understand that the American public is surely getting tired of political gridlock and as we see it at The Broadsmoore Group, initiative will have to come from private investment to jump start our economy. We have spoken in the past of our investments in the service sector via companies such as EmployUS and HRAA and we see bright futures for the those business that will hopefully shine some light on other similar ventures in 2012,” said AJ Discala, CEO of The Broadsmoore Group